VARIOUS: Hiperbole Jamboree 2012: Go Jazz Not Ape (2013)

If you’ve ever rolled into bed in the small hours after a heavy night out and then been woken ‘early doors’ by someone under the age of five you’ll have some idea of how I was feeling yesterday and, frankly, today as well to some extent. Luckily, Hiperbole Records‘ new compilation, Hiperbole Jamboree 2012: Go Jazz Not Ape has been lurking in my inbox and its soothing grooves provided some badly needed musical ibuprofen.

Hiperbole is home to ‘northern jazz’ warrior Renegades Of Jazz (think b-boy breaks with big band brass) so you won’t be surprised to find material including (but not confined to) jazz-flavoured breakbeats. Allow your ears to be captivated by the sinister vibe of Fredo‘s trip-hoppy downtempo Black Panther for example, or Daytoner‘s excellent latin-breakbeat roller rework of Mankoora‘s, El Loco which steams through at a breezy 140-plus bpm. ROJ provides one of the few vocal tracks – the jazz-blues-funky Stormy Weather featuring sometime Daytoner collaborator Jane Kennaway but also comes up with the goods again on Bossa Nostra along with Mister Bingle. Other highlights have to be Savages ‘northern jazz’ spy-funk car chase banger Beatsmith and The Penguin Walkers Miles-ish Nosferatu though the rest is hardly padding. Time to get swinging then baby! Not through the trees though, obviously. We’re talking jazz breaks. Not apes. Full tracklist below players…(Out 3 June on Hiperbole)